Despite Bodybuilding Experience, Shaquille O’Neal Almost Died in the Gym Before Dwayne Johnson Stepped in 9 Years Ago

NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal is a massive fan of bodybuilding. He got hooked on the sports a few years ago and he even has some experience himself. But nine years ago,  when Shaq was competing against a fellow Hall of Famer, he nearly was killed in the gym before Dwayne Johnson saved him.

Shaq has been a fan of bodybuilding for some time now and he got hooked on it after he retired. Seeing those fit athletes motivated Shaq, and he even got himself a celebrity trainer. Shaq has gotten into better shape over the years and he has even stated that he wants to participate in a celebrity show-off.

But Shaq got into big trouble during weightlifting and he had to be saved by The Rock.

Shaquille O’Neal nearly dropped 405 lbs on himself

Shaq and Chuck were both invited to a lifting competition. It was held in promotion of the ‘Pain and Gain’ movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson. Wahlberg chose to coach Chuck while Johnson took Shaq’s side.

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The competition was to find out who can bench more. The first round was 135 lbs. Both contestants got this done pretty smoothly and Shaq even got off and lifted the bar over his head. The second round was then 225lbs. Both these legends did that seamlessly.

The next rounds got harder as they increased it to 315lbs. Shaq struggled, but he managed to rack it up at the end. Meanwhile, Chuck didn’t even struggle and he easily racked the bar. The pressure was mounting on Shaq and he increased the weight to 405 lbs.

Shaquille O’Neal struggled from the start and he just could not lift it up. And he started shaking his let’s, and the bar started to lose balance and it looked like it could fall on his neck. But Johnson stepped in and he saved the day as he managed to rack the bar back to its place. This could have been disastrous by The Rock was there.

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Charles Barkley went for 405 and he struggled. But he kept going and managed to rack it. And he won the competition. Shaq was not happy he lost to Chuck, but he should be grateful that the Rock was there to save his life.